1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to the field of information handling systems, and, more specifically, the disclosure relates to manufacturing information handling systems and virtual machines.
2. Background Information
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is an information handling system. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for such systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
An IHS may be configured in a specific manner to meet a customer's needs. Some customers, such as businesses or companies, may desire one or more IHSs that are set up to provide several virtual machines (VMs). VMs may simulate a physical machine or device including several components or resources, such as a central processing unit (CPU), random access memory (RAM), a network card, and any other suitable components, that may be utilized by the device. A bare metal virtual machine may be a VM that has been pre-configured with memory, CPU, and other resources, but has no operating system installed on its virtual disk. A manufacturer may provide one or more physical systems and storage to a customer, but the customer may need to rack and wire the physical systems and storage, as well as set up the VMs and other desired features to create a bare metal VM from the physical systems. Features, such as failover clustering to provide high availability, fibre channel storage to provide storage networking, and internet small computer system interface (iSCSI) to provide shared storage, may be desired by a customer, but may increase the complexity of configuring the VMs and features on the physical systems. In some cases, determining the number of physical systems and amount of storage needed to set up VMs and other desired features may be a complicated process that makes it difficult for some customers to determine the products that may be needed from a manufacturer. Further, configuring VMs and setting up other features on the physical systems may be difficult as well, which may also lead to customer dissatisfaction.
Thus, a need exists for methods and media for manufacturing bare metal virtual machines that may be pre-configured prior to delivery to a customer. Any of the configurable settings for the bare metal VMs may be configured prior to delivery to a customer.